Wild Ride

So the next part of our trip was quiet the adventure. We were headed out to Goblin Valley. My cousin was being the navigator and didn't realize that the one road on the map was actually a dirt road. By the time we got to the road we would have had to back track to get to the paved road, so we decided to take the dirt road. My car isn't necessarily made to dirt road trips, but fortunately the road wasn't too bad. Since I was driving Melissa had to take the pictures.

Dead Horse Point

The next stop on our trip was to Dead Horse Point. It's a Utah state park that over looks the Colorado River. This is another place that a have faint childhood memories of. Actually maybe it's more like I remember it from family home videos we have. I think sometimes that's the were a lot of my memories come from. Dead Horse Point is about 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. There were some amazing views, but if you're afraid of heights at all it's not the place for you. There aren't walls all the way around the point and were there are walls they really aren't very high. And to make things worse it's almost a straight drop down.
It was another fun place to stop and see again. It was fun to relive some old childhood memories. Plus the views are amazing.

Arches National Park

Wednesday morning we left Mesa Verde and were on the road again for Arches National Park. It actually wasn't too long to a trip. We got to Arches in plenty of time to set up camp, and go for a hike. Our camp spot at Arches was really cool. The camp ground is near Devil's Garden in the park. All the camp spots had lots of sand. It did make it a little more comfortable to sleep. After setting up camp we went for a hike in Devil's Garden. The hike around Devil's Garden was beautiful. The first place that we saw in Devil's Garden was the Landscape Arch. It's one of the largest span arches.
The weather was perfect for hiking around. The sun would shine and than it would rain on us. Then the sun would shine again enough to dry us out.
After hiking past Landscape Arch we continued on the trail to Partition Arch and Navajo Arch. Up the trail by those two we found a cool little over look of Landscape Arch. It was actually a place where you could look down from above the Landscape Arch. The only downside was that it was on top of the rocks. It got a little scary so I had to sit down so that I didn't blow over.
From there we headed out to Double O Arch. We actually almost missed the arch, because we were trying to follow the rock carins. We finally made it to the Arch and it was definitely worth it. From there we headed back to camp to have dinner. We had to eat dinner quickly only because we wanted to make it up to Delicate Arch for sunset. It's suppose to be the best time to see the arch.

I was actually amazed at how fast we made it up to the arch. From what I remember the trail was really long, but I think we actually made it up the trail in about 30 minutes. We made it up there in plenty of time to see the sunset. The only problem was that there were lots of low clouds in the sky, so it blocked the direct sunlight unto the arch. We sat up by the arch for a while just enjoying the view and weather. We headed back down just as it was getting dark. We'd done a lot of walking on Wednesday so we just went back to camp and crashed. Thursday morning we woke up and took down camp. Then we were back on the road again. The only place that we stopped on the way out was Balanced Rock. It is amazing how the rock was balanced so perfectly on the other rock.

I'm so glad that we made the trip to Arches, because it was beautiful. If you ever get the opportunity to make it out that direction you should definitely take it.

Walk down memory lane

The next stop along our trip was a little one down memory lane. (Thanks Dad for the pictures). Like before I faintly remember being at Arches National Park but it's really only scattered memories from stories, pictures and home videos. Sometimes I worry that if things were recorded on video or on film that I wouldn't have any childhood memories... maybe I should look into having my memory checked.Anyways the last time that we were at Arches National Park was back in April of 1992. Once again we were there with our cousins although it was only their oldest daughter who was even alive at the time. (She's the little bald baby in the picture). We have good memories from this trip most of which include lots of rain and black trash sacks. On our way back down from Delicate Arch it started raining so hard. It was raining so hard (or maybe it was the lighting) that we stop along the trail to find what shelter we could. Fortunately someone (probably my Dad) decided to carry a few heavy duty black trash bags up the trail with them which made rather nice rain ponchos. When the rain finally died down we made our way back down the trail but it definitely made for some good memories (pictures).

Mesa Verde

So late Monday night we got into Mesa Verde. We really didn't do much more than find camp spot, set up camp and eat dinner. I come to a new appreciation for my parents on Monday night. One thing I remember about camping when we were little was finally arriving at the campground only to be stuck in the car driving around the camp ground til we found a "good" camp spot. I think it wasn't until I had to pick my own camp spot that I realize how hard it is to find a "good" camp spot. First you don't want a spot too close to the bathroom or too far away. You also have to find a spot that has enough room to lay down the tent on a relatively flat area. Trees are always a plus but harder to find depending on the campground. Needless to say we finally found one and I was glad to get out of the car.
Tuesday morning we meet up with my cousins from Indiana. They were bringing their oldest daughter out to school at BYU and decided to make a trip of it. It's been a couple years since I've seen the them and it amazes me how everyone is growing up. We spent Tuesday doing some of the hikes around Mesa Verde. It's been years since I've been to Mesa Verde. There are a few things that I remember but most of the details were fuzzy so it was fun to see it all again. While there we decided to do both the Balcony House and Cliff Palace Tours. Both are guided tours down through some of the bigger dwellings located at Mesa Verde. Both tours include up close views of the dwellings as well as an opportunity to climb the ladders (replicated) that would have originally been used to reach the dwellings. I'll I have to say is that the people living here couldn't possibly have had a problem with heights or it just wouldn't have worked out. It was fun to be back and piece together old memories.

Four Corners

So it's taken me a little while to get around to posting, but I'll continue where I left off. After our exciting weekend in Las Vegas, my sister headed back to Phoenix with me. The next morning we got in the car and headed north... northeast actually. We were headed for Mesa Verde, located outside of Cortez, Colorado. We weren't in much of a rush, because we took our time getting there. We drove up through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. We also decided to stop at Four Corners. In all of our families travels around the west we've never stoped at Four Corners and after stopping there I understand why.

Really all that is there is a cement monument with four flag poles. It's all surrounded by Indian sale huts. Not really a hoping place to be, but now I guess I can say I've been there. I had to take a picture for my Arizona pride (I'm standing in my favorite state).

picture credit: Melissa

Las Vegas... Again!

So this is my second trip to Las Vegas in the past three month, but I guess it's a close place to get away to. This time I went to Las Vegas with my sister. Since my sister made it through the long hours of tax season she was rewarded this year with a trip to Las Vegas. She was nice enough to invite me to join her. Friday we spent the day walking down the strip to see the sights. There is a lot on the strip not worth seeing, but it is always interesting to me that there is so much different stuff to see on the strip. We started at the Bellagio Gardens which are always so pretty. photo credit: Melissa

Further on down the strip we passed Treasure Island and the Pirate ship.

Than we stopped to watch the Volcano show at the Mirage.

We also stopped by the Venetian.

We stopped to get dinner at a crepe place in The Paris hotel.

Last but not least we stopped to watch the Bellagio fountains. I think that it's one of my favorite things about the strip. I could sit and watch the fountains forever. I think we stood there and watched the fountains for at least 4 or 5 songs. It was a beautiful night to be outside.

photo credit: melissa